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RATC adopts rehab operation standards

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - AAHomecare’s Rehab and Assistive Technology Council in September adopted a package of 15 voluntary standards intended to provide guidance in how rehab companies should operate and serve their clients.

“We put it out there for the industry, but if they are a member of the council we expect them to adhere to it,” said Gary Gilberti, vice chair RATC.

The voluntary standards are separate from RATC’’s work to establish a rehab accreditation program. The rehab council put that effort on hold, pending a resolution of Congress’s attempt at Medicare reform, which includes a proposal for mandatory HME accreditation. RATC didn’t want to develop a rehab accreditation program only to have it scuttled by a federal requirement, Gilberti said.

The 15 standards are essentially the same as those issued at NAMES before it became AAHomecare.

“It is the same document,” Gilberti said. “We dusted it off, cleaned it up with a couple of word changes, and put it back out there because we had never formerly adopted it as AAHomecare RATC.”

The standards include the following:

4Rehabilitation technology companies should inform the consumer or family of their financial obligations and the requirements for reimbursement through third-party funding.

4Rehabilitation technology companies should be accredited or establish and enforce polices and procedures that meet or exceed those of accreditation bodies.